Magic fall to the Bulls 108-95 to finish road slate with 4-37 record

They won't play another regular-season road game for at least six and a half months.

Their 2013-14 road slate ended Monday night with an ugly, turnover-filled 108-95 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

"They were really aggressive on us," Magic forward Tobias Harris said. "It was tough for us to get what we wanted to get."

The Magic gave the ball away 20 times, and starters Victor Oladipo, Arron Afflalo and Maurice Harkless were kept on the bench for the entire fourth quarter for the second consecutive game.

Kyle O'Quinn, who scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, didn't play in the fourth quarter until Dewayne Dedmon fouled out with 2:06 to play.

With the loss, the Magic (23-58) clinched at least a tie for the league's third-worst record.

The Magic would finish the season in sole possession of the third-worst record if they lose their season finale Wednesday night to the Indiana Pacers in Orlando or if the Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis on Wednesday night.

But if the Magic win and the Jazz lose, the teams would tie for the third-worst record.

The Magic completed their road schedule with a 4-37 record — the worst road record in franchise history. Until this season, the worst road record in club history belonged to the 1989-90 Magic, the inaugural team, which went 6-35.

"We've made a good run at home, and next year we'll hopefully keep the run going at home and also step it up on the road," O'Quinn said.

The Magic cut the Bulls' lead to 67-64 when Oladipo sank a trey from the top of the arc with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

Price and Lamb played the final 3:31 of the quarter, and when the quarter ended, Chicago led 81-70.

Price and Lamb played the entire fourth quarter.

Oladipo, Afflalo and Harkless watched the entire final period from the bench, just as they did Sunday night in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets in New York.

Asked if he considered putting his starters back in the game in the fourth quarter against the Bulls (48-33), Vaughn answered, "Yeah, I did. I ran [the starters] probably the first nine minutes of that third quarter but decided to stick with the same rotation pretty much that we did the night before. That was just the gist of it: letting Ronnie lead that group and letting those other young guys participate in games at the end."

Second-year power forward Andrew Nicholson, who has been in a slump since mid-December, played one of his better games in months.

He finished with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

"I just cleared my mind," Nicholson said. "I just went out there and played."

A few Bulls fans chanted "M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!" when Noah stepped to the free-throw line, and after the game, Noah was asked whether the Bulls' Tom Thibodeau should be considered for the NBA Coach of the Year honors.

"Yes," Noah said. "He lives for basketball — for Bulls basketball. He deserves all the credit. When your leader wants to win as bad as he does, you don't have a choice but to go out and play hard every night."

On one early sequence, when a referee whistled O'Quinn for a traveling violation, veteran Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer celebrated by pumping his fist. Meanwhile, Thibodeau continuously prowled the sidelines, and his hoarse growl occasionally could be heard on the opposite baseline on the other side of the court, 50 feet away.

The Magic won't have to face the Bulls again in the Windy City for at least half a year.

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.